‎FRANCENew York World’s Fair 1939‎

‎ 1939 Paris, 1939, 305x235mm, 134p, deux cartes hors texte l’une de France et l’autre de l’empire colonial de France sur papier doré, couverture et dos dorés pages de gardes argent et or, portrait photographique en frontispice du Président F.Roosevelt, le tout relié par 8 anneaux de plastique.Nombreuses photographies in texte de Schall, Albin Guillot, Brassaï, Le Prat, Boucher, Degrave, Adam, Yvon, Tuefferd, Lacheroy, Roubier, Paris, Bellon, Boyer…Ce catalogue d’exposition est dédié à l’amitié franco-américaine. Quelques défauts.Bouqueret 221. ‎

‎Paradigm Shifts During the Global Middle Ages and Renaissance‎

‎, Brepols, 2019 Hardback, xlvi + 396 pages, Size:156 x 234 mm, Illustrations:29 b/w, Language: English. ISBN 9782503583044.‎

‎Summary For a long time we have naively talked about the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and other periods, but at closer analysis all those terms prove to be constructed models to help us understand in rough terms profound changes that affected human conditions throughout time. As the contributions to the present volume indicate, paradigm shifts have occurred regularly and constituted some of the critical developments in human existence. The notion of paradigm shift as first developed by Thomas Kuhn is here considerably expanded to address also literary, religious, scientific, and cultural-historical phenomena, to deal with contrasting conceptions of various parts of the world (China versus Europe), conflicts between genders, economic changes pertaining to women's roles, social and political criticism, models of how to explain our existence, ideological positions and epistemological approaches. The study of paradigm shifts makes it possible to grasp fundamental movements both horizontally (the present world in global terms) and vertically (from the past to the present), exposing thereby central forces leading to shifts in power structures and in the mental-historical world-views. Focusing on paradigm-shifts allows us to gain deep insight into conflicting discourses throughout time and to illuminate the struggle between dominant and competing models explaining or determining reality. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction - ALBRECHT CLASSEN 751 C.E.: Watershed Events in the Carolingian, Byzantine, Abbasid and Tang Empires - RYAN HATCH The Role of the Crusades in a Paradigm Shift of the Papal Concept of Power - CHARLES W. CONNELL Shifting Paradigms of Place and Ritual on Crusader Seals Before and After the Fall of Acre in 1291 - LAURA J. WHATLEY Gender and Paradigm Shift in Old French Narrative, or What Happens when the Heroine Becomes a Hero - KATHY M. KRAUSE Women's Legal Capacity: Was the Thirteenth Century a Turning Point? - HEATHER J. TANNER From Marco Polo to Matteo Ricci: Sino-Islamic Knowledge and the European Discovery of Cathay - R. PO-CHIA HSIA The Baby and the Bath Water: Satirical Laughter by Thomas Murner and Herman Bote as Catalysts for a Paradigm Shift in the Age Prior to the Protestant Reformation: Literary Comedy as a Medium to Undermine all Authorities and to Create a Power Vacuum - ALBRECHT CLASSEN "Satura Tota Nostra Est": The Birth of Modern Satire in Renaissance France as Agent and Consequence of a Major Paradigm Shift - BERND RENNER From Myth to Matter: Ulrich Molitor's De Lamiis (1489) and the Construction of Witchcraft - WILLIAM BRADFORD SMITH The Rise of the Spanish Vernacular and the Castilian Literary Canon: From Papal Bulls to Celestina to Vernacular Translations - MARTA ALBAL -PELEGR N Middling Women and Economic Continuity: A Paradigm Shift in the Global Renaissance - JEANETTE M. FREGULIA Alchemy and Science: Dr. John Dee, the Reverend Richard Hakluyt, and Paradigm Change in Early English Exploration - JAMES HELFERS "Your Clogs will be My Stairway to Heaven": A Wife's Spiritual Goodness in Franciso de Osuna's Reformist Dialogue on Marriage, Norte de los Estados - DANA BULTMAN Confusion and Controversy in Spain During the Paradigm Shift of the Protestant Reformation: The Relationship Between Printing, the Council of Trent, and the Inquisitorial Trial of Fray Luey de L on (1527-1591) - J. MICHAEL FULTON Early Modern Pantsuit Politics: Shifting Masculinities in Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona - DORIS BARKIN "If a lie may do thee grace": Shifts of Memory in Shakespeare's Second Tetralogy - JONATHAN BALDO Goddess and Guide or Treasury and Machine?: Seventeenth-Century Debate About the Role of Nature - THOMA S WILLARD List of Contributors Index‎

‎Pursuit of Salvation. Community, Space, and Discipline in Early Medieval Monasticism - with a critical edition and translation of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines‎

‎, Brepols, 2021 Paperback, 687 pages, Size:210 x 270 mm, Illustrations:1 col., 3 tables b/w., Language(s):English, Latin. ISBN 9782503589602.‎

‎Summary The seventh-century Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines (Someone's Rule for Virgins), which was most likely written by Jonas of Bobbio, the hagiographer of the Irish monk Columbanus, forms an ideal point of departure for writing a new history of the emergence of Western monasticism understood as a history of the individual and collective attempt to pursue eternal salvation. The book provides a critical edition and translation of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and a roadmap for such a new history revolving around various aspects of monastic discipline, such as the agency of the community, the role of enclosure, authority and obedience, space and boundaries, confession and penance, sleep and silence, excommunication and expulsion. TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary The book consists of two sections. The first is a critical edition and translation of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines, a seventh-century Frankish monastic rule for nuns, along with the short treatise De accedendo ad Deum, which most likely formed a part of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines. The second section is a study on the transformations and diversification of monastic theology, concepts of communal life and monastic discipline in the early medieval period. It revolves around the Regula cuisudam ad uirgines in its historical and intertextual context. The study is divided four parts that are related to the four key words of the title of the book (Community, Space, Discipline, and Salvation). Each part consists of a chapter that makes an argument about the place of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines in intertextual contexts and a chapter that applies these arguments in a historical inquiry. Introduction Section I: Edition and Translation of the Regua cuiusdam ad uirgines Section II: Study Part I: Community revolves around the question to what extent the monastic community can serve as an agent of the collective and individual pursuit of salvation Chapter 1: Quidam pater - quaedam mater? The Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and its author provides a survey of the monastic milieu in which the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines was written, discusses potential authors and stakeholders in the monastic foundation that may have been addressed by the Rule and shows on the basis of semantic and stylistic similarities and shared content and ideas that Jonas of Bobbio, the author of the Vita Columbani, is to be considered the author of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines as well. Chapter 2: The dying nuns of Faremoutiers: the regula in action argues that Jonas of Bobbio's description of the deaths of the nuns of Faremoutiers, which is a part of Book 2 of his Vita Columbani, and the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines represent the same monastic program, once presented as a "narrated rule", once as a normative text. The Faremoutiers episodes are closely modelled after Book 4 of the Dialogi of Gregory the Great and can be read as a critical response to Gregory's eschatology and his notion of pursuing salvation by living a virtuous life. After having fleshed out the parallels and differences between the Dialogi and the Faremoutiers miracles, the chapter analyzes each episode of the Faremoutiers miracles, showing that Jonas wrote his monastic program in a highly sophisticated manner into stories describing the deaths occurring in the founding generation of nuns in Faremoutiers - deaths that were most likely still remembered by the primary audience of the Vita Columbani. Part II: Space discusses the role of space and boundaries for the monastic pursuit of salvation and explores the origins of the medieval cloister Chapter 3 The Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines, a supplement to Caesarius' Rule for Nuns? compares the provisions of Caesarius of Arles' Rule for Nuns with the Regula cuisudam ad uirgines and argues that Jonas wrote his Rule as an expansion and revision of Caesarius work: an "early medieval" update of a "late antique" monastic program, as it were. Chapter 4: Enclosure re-opened: Caesarius, Jonas, and the invention of sacred space discusses the evolution of Caesarius of Arles' notion of enclosure as salvific instrument and then shows how Jonas of Bobbio tried to face the aporias of Caeasarius' theology of enclosure by expanding it towards a system of total control of all physical, social and corporeal boundaries and the implementation of various enclosures. Part III: Discipline provides a historical survey of the evolution of various aspects of monastic discipline in early medieval monastic rules leading to the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines. Chapter 5: The Regula Benedicti in seventh-century Francia explores the role of the Regula Benedicti in Frankish monasticism in the aftermath of Columbanus and shows how Jonas used and revised the Regula Benedicti and refuted some of his main theological premises. Chapter 6: The Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and its context describes the history of the topics addressed in each chapter of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and provides a detailed commentary to the Rule itself, showing how Jonas rewrote the Regula Benedicti. I discuss every chapter of the Rule but put a special emphasis on the following topics: abbatial authority, hierarchy, boundaries, love, confession, silence, work, sleep, excommunication, and family ties. Part IV: Salvation focusses on the short treatise De accedendo ad Deum which provides a unique theological rationale why monastic discipline enables monks and nuns to pray effectively and to attain eternal salvation. Chapter 7: De accedendo ad Deum - a lost chapter of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines? shows that De accedendo was most likely a lost chapter of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines and thus written by Jonas of Bobbio as well. Chapter 8: Prompto corde orandum: the theological program of De accedendo analyzes the theological argument that monastic discipline enable a nun or monk to approach God through prayer, which forms one of the most sophisticated early medieval responses to the challenge of the doctrine of prevenient grace and the "semi-Pelagian" debate. De accedendo essentially explains how the monastic pursuit of salvation works. Conclusion Three appendices provide textual evidence for ascribing the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines to Jonas of Bobbio and to document the reception of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines in the eighth-century Life of Bertila. Bibliography of manuscripts, sources, and literature Index uerborum‎

‎Jan Vanriet Bienal S o Paulo [Biennale van S o Paulo 1979 belgica - belgium‎

‎, , 1979 Oorspronkelijk uitgevers omslag, Portugese en Engelse tekst.‎

‎catalogue B lgica. Minist rio da educa o nacional e da cultura flamenga. Servi o de difusao de artes internacional [Belgi . Minist rio da educa o nacional e da cultura flamenga. Servi o de difusao de artes internacional]‎

‎SOUVENIR D'AVIGNON.‎

‎Sans lieu ni date v 1890. In-12 oblong 12ff n ch. Cartonnage éditeur percaline acajou, titre doré au centre du 1er plat, tranches dorées. Ensemble de 12 photographies originales (15,5x10cm) appliquées sur papier fort, monté sur onglet.‎

‎Cet album touristique contient les vues suivantes: *Vue générale *Pont saint Bénézet * Château des Papes et cathédrale *Portes de l'église Saint Pierre * Eglise Saint Pierre *Christ des Pénitents Noirs *Théâtre *Ancien Hôtel de la Monnaie *Statue de Crillon *Fort saint André *Rue Pétrarque *Villeneuve-les-Avignon. (400)‎

‎Gauchos bei der Arbeit.‎

‎ohne Ort. CSD - Geoklock. ca. 1990. Fotografie von Alcantara, Araquem. Unten rechts signiert. Bildformat: 24 x 35 cm.‎

‎Sehr gut erhalten.‎

‎São Paulo.‎

‎ohne Ort. CSD - Geoklock. ca. 1990. 3 Farbfotografien von Alcantara, Araquem. Unten rechts auf dem Passe-Partout signiert. Bildformat: 16 x 24 cm.‎

‎A grande metropole Completa 450 anos. Portal dos mil povos. Terra de Adocao de milhoes de migrantes. Capital cultural e centro financeiro do Brasil. Para registrar a riqueza deste universo urbano. Die Fotografien unter Passe-Partout in schwarzer Pappschachtel. - Sehr gut erhalten.‎

‎Yanomami im Regenwald.‎

‎ohne Ort. CSD - Geoklock. ca. 1990. Fotografie von Alcantara, Araquem. Unten rechts signiert. Bildformat: 24 x 35 cm.‎

‎Sehr gut erhalten.‎

‎L’art précolombien. ‘L’art et les grandes civilisations’.‎

‎Paris, Mazenod, 1978, gr. in-4to, 613 p., richement ill. de photographies n./b. et couleurs, reliure en toile originale. Jaquette.‎

‎Luigi Valadier au Louvreou l'Antiquité exaltée‎

‎Editions de la R.M.N., "les dossiers du musée du Louvre", Paris, 1994. In-8, broché sous couverture illustrée en couleurs, 187 pp. Avant-propos, par Daniel Alcouffe - Introduction, par Alvar Gonzalez-Palacios - Vie de Valadier - Catalogue : Chasse au sanglier. - Triomphe de Bacchus. - Petit monument. - Baguier. - Buste d'Auguste. - Rome assise. - Bacchus et Ariane. - Groupe ...‎

‎Nombreuses illustrations en noir et blanc, six planches couleurs en hors texte. --- Plus d'informations sur le site archivesdunord.com‎

‎Excerptiones super Priscianum‎

‎, Brepols, 2020 Hardback, ci + 262 pages, Size:155 x 245 mm, Illustrations:5 col., Language: Latin. ISBN 9782503588759.‎

‎Summary Conserv es dans quatre manuscrits, dont un palimpseste, du IXe si cle, les Excerptiones super Priscianum d'Alcuin constituent un t moin exceptionnel de la lecture de Priscien par le ma tre des ma tres . Cette mosa que d'extraits nous montre comment Alcuin r ordonne la lecture de Priscien dans la perspective r solument innovante de la syntaxe, rompant avec les utilisations ponctuelles qui pouvaient tre auparavant faites de l'Ars Prisciani, par exemple pour commenter Donat ou clairer tel point technique. Le caract re magistral de cette oeuvre tient au fait qu'Alcuin se r v le le seul avoir saisi que les seize premiers livres constituaient une prop deutique aux deux derniers et la ma trise qui lui permet de relier constamment les fils invisibles qui unissent les deux parties de l'ouvrage. L' dition critique est pr c d e d'une introduction et compl t e par une s rie d'annexes centr es sur la m thodologie d'Alcuin.‎

‎Schaduwen op porselein / Yang po zie reeks. - Gent; vol. 142 / Al De Boeck‎

‎, Gent: Yang, 1989, 1989 Paperback, 46 pagina's, NL, 200 x 120 mm, in goede staat, gedichten, po zie.‎

‎met opdracht en gesigneerd door de auteur‎

‎Atlas of Parrots of the World‎

‎, TFH Publications Inc, 1991 Hardcover, 544 pages, 36 x 25 cm, English texts. *As new. ISBN 9780866221207.‎

‎The Atlas of Parrots of the World ‎

‎Aldo Rossi : A Scientific Autobiography‎

‎, (Oppositions books), 1981 Hardcover, 120 pages, ENG, 255 x 225 x 15 mm, dustjacket, book is in New condition ! illustrated in b/w. ISBN 9780262181044.‎

‎Aldo Rossi (3 May 1931 ? 4 September 1997) was an Italian architect and designer who achieved international recognition in four distinct areas: architectural theory, drawing and design and also product design. He was one of the leading proponents of the postmodern movement. He was the first Italian to receive the Pritzker Prize for architecture‎

‎Le Carnet De Voyage De J r me Al andre En France et Li ge (1510-1516)‎

‎, Bruxelles - Rome 1969, Broch , 237 pages;Introduction, texte Latin et traduction juxtapos e en Fran ais. Tres bon etat. ***dedicace de l'auteur.‎

‎Biblioth que de l'Institut Historique Belge de Rome - fascicule XVIII. Pages en partie non coup es, ‎

‎Pierre Alechinsky, ** SIGNED copy.‎

‎, 2RC Edizioni d'Arte, 1988, Original softcover with dustjacket, 60 pages; in English and Italian, illustrations in color. ++ Dedication from the artist Alechinsky.‎

‎Dedica dell'Artista in antiporta, catalogo mostra Galleria 2RC, Roma / Milano, 1988, brossura, formato 24x32, pagine 60, illustrato.‎

‎Odilon Redon Catalogue Raisonne de L'oeuvre et Dessine ; VOLUME 1 / Portraits et Figures.‎

‎, Wildenstein Institute / Bibliotheque des Arts, 1992 Cloth with dust jacket, 344 pages, illustre coleur / b/w 28,5 x 34 cm Texte en Francais, *Tres belle exemplaire. ISBN 9782908063073.‎

‎Odilon Redon Catalogue Raisonne de L'oeuvre et Dessine ; VOLUME II: Mythes et Legendes.‎

‎, Wildenstein Institute / Bibliotheque des Arts, 1994 Cloth with dust jacket, 384 pages, illustre coleur / b/w 28,5 x 34 cm Texte en Francais, Tres belle exemplaire. ISBN 9782908063110.‎

‎Odilon Redon Catalogue Raisonne de L'oeuvre et Dessine ; VOLUME. III: Fleurs et Paysages‎

‎, Wildenstein Institute / Bibliotheque des Arts, 1996 Cloth with dust jacket, 420 pages, illustre coleur / b/w 28,5 x 34 cm Texte en Francais, *Tres belle exemplaire. ISBN 9782908063127.‎

‎Odilon Redon Catalogue Raisonne de L'oeuvre et Dessine ; VOLUME. III: Fleurs et Paysages‎

‎Odilon Redon Catalogue Raisonne de L'oeuvre et Dessine ; VOLUME IV: Etudes et Grandes. Decorations‎

‎, Wildenstein Institute / Bibliotheque des Arts, 1998 Cloth with dust jacket, 433 pages, illustre coleur / b/w 28,5 x 34 cm Texte en Francais, *Tres belle exemplaire. ISBN 9782908063134.‎

‎Religious Dynamics in a Microcontinent. Cult Places, Identities, and Cultural Change in Hispania‎

‎, Brepols, 2022 Paperback, 248 pages, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:14 b/w, 16 col., 5 tables b/w., 5 maps b/w, 3 maps color, Language: English. ISBN 9782503595450.‎

‎Summary The Roman conquest of the Iberian peninsula, a land already inhabited by peoples who were characterized by cultural, ethnic, and social diversity, was one of the longest and most complex colonial processes to have occurred in the Roman world. Different political entities saw integration and interaction taking place at different speeds and via different mechanisms, and these differences had a profound impact on the development of religious dynamics and cultural change across the peninsula. This edited volume draws together contributions from a number of experts in the field in order to deepen our understanding of religious phenomena in Hispania ? in particular cult, rituals, mechanisms, and spaces ? and in doing so, to offer new insights into processes of cultural and social change, and the impact of conquest and colonialism. The chapters gathered here identify how forms of religious interaction occurred at different levels and scales, and explore the ways in which religion and religious practices underpinned the construction, development, and renegotiation of different identities. Through this approach they shed important light on the crucial role of cultic practices in defining cultural and social identity as Iberia's provincial communities were drawn into the Roman world. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of illustrations Abbreviations 1. Introduction Alejandro G. Sinner and V ctor Revilla Calvo PART I. Rituals in Context 2. Ritual Practices and Sacred Landscapes: Identity and Territorial Organisation in Late Iron Age and Early Roman Eastern Iberia Ignasi Grau Mira 3. The Sacred Landscape of Western Hispania in the Roman Period Thomas G. Schattner 4. Rock Sanctuaries and Roman Epigraphy Marc Mayer Oliv 5. Religious Practices and Rural Cult Sites in Hispania Citerior: Some Reflections Alejandro G. Sinner and V ctor Revilla Calvo 6. Roman Colonies and Local Cults: the Example of Augusta Emerita (M rida) in Lusitania Jonathan Edmondson 7. Private Beliefs, Domestic Religion, and Identity in Hispania Mar a P rez Ruiz PART II. Strategies, Mechanisms, and Practice ?8. Religion and Identity on a Microcontinent Greg Woolf 9. Coinage and the Religious Beliefs of the Peoples of Hispania: Tradition and Foreign Influences Marta Campo D az 10. Rome's Memory and Ritual in Hispania Ana Mayorgas 11. Roman Past and Local Identities: the Case of Saguntum V ctor Revilla Calvo 12. The Imperial Cult and Consensus Rituals in Hispania: First Century BCE - First Century CE Fransisco Marco Sim n 13. Localising 'Oriental Cults' in Roman Iberia: Relationality, Power and Place Matthew M. McCarty and Kimberly Edher Bibliography Index of Sources Index of Names‎

‎Baracoa bakermat van Cubaanse cacao‎

‎, Stockmans Kalenders 2011, 2011 Hardcover, 247 pagina's/pages, Nederlands/ Francais, 240 x 205 mm, met illustraties en foto's, nieuwstaat, . ISBN 9789077207239.‎

‎Baracoa, bakermat van de Cubaanse cacao, is een noodzakelijk boek. Cacao is immers een autochtoon product waarvan het belang nog niet voldoende wordt benadrukt. Het boek exploreert de kenmerken die Baracoa onderscheiden als de Cubaanse en misschien zelfs Latijns-Amerikaanse en Cara bische stad waar cacao de sterkste sporen heeft achtergelaten en waar in vergelijking met andere producerende landen, reeds lang vervlogen tradities werden bewaard. Baracoa, hoofdstad van de Cubaanse cacao, is een complexe en rijke culturele ruimte waar een eeuwenoude landbouwactiviteit specifieke culturele kenmerken heeft, die bepalend zijn voor de identiteit van die plek.‎

‎Patinir y la invension del paisaje / Patinir and the Invention of Landscape. Guia de la exposicion.‎

‎, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2007, 2007 Paperback, 55 paginas, Spanish text, Illustraciones,.240 X 190 X 10 mm ISBN 9788484801214.‎

‎Joachim Patinir, que trabaj en Amberes entre 1515 y 1524, fue el primer artista europeo especializado en pintar paisajes. Sus sorprendentes cuadros reflejan la curiosidad por el mundo natural que era caracter stica del Renacimiento, y al mismo tiempo evocan la idea de un universo trascendente. Este documental aborda el enigma de un pintor cuya biograf a apenas se conoce, y que revolucion el mercado del arte e incluso el concepto mismo de la pintura en los albores del siglo XVI. Como conservador del Museo del Prado, Alejandro Vergara ha sido responsable de una gran exposici n retrospectiva de su obra (3 de julio - 7 de octubre de 2007) que le ha llevado a buscar sus pinturas por diversos museos del mundo. A trav s de sus viajes y de diversos encuentros con expertos, Vergara investiga las claves de la pintura de Patinir. El an lisis y la reflexi n que se ofrecen al espectador le gu an en el conocimiento de una bell sima y casi desconocida producci n.‎

‎Illuminating Women Artists- Clara Peeters‎

‎, Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd, 2025 Hardcover, 128 pages, Illustrated. Text English, 25x20cm *New. ISBN 9781848225718.‎

‎Clara Peeters was one of the most talented and creative among the early practitioners of still-life painting in Europe. This timely book sheds light on the limitations she encountered because of her gender and how she responded to them in her art, while also assessing her importance as a painter. This book serves to establish Clara Peeters, one of the most talented and creative among the early practitioners of still-life painting in Europe in the early 17th century, as a leader in her field. The book not only discusses the artist?s biography but also examines the historical and cultural context of Peeters? art, her artistry and the material culture reflected in her paintings. Part of the first generation of European artists to specialise in still-life painting, Peeters was in fact the only Flemish woman known to have focussed on this genre of painting in the early 17th century. She was also one of the few women to dedicate her professional life to painting in early modern Europe. This timely book sheds light on the limitations that Clara Peeters encountered because of her gender and how she responded to them in her art, while also assessing her importance as a painter of still-life.‎

‎What is Quality in Art? A Meditation Based on European Paintings from the 15th to the 18th Centuries"‎

‎, Hannibal Books, 2024 Hardcover, 127 pages, ENG. edition, 220 x 145 mm, NEW, illustr. in color / b/w, Quadrichromie. ISBN 9789464941197.‎

‎ In-depth art-historical reflection on value judgments in art by one of Europe?s leading curators "This is a necessary book. The concept of quality is key in the history of art, and often little understood." ? Miguel Falomir, Director, Museo del Prado "That this is a legitimate question, even a necessary one, is argued by Vergara in a pleasurable manner, with the pace and attitude of a peripatetic thinker. There is something here that reminds one of Montaigne or Stendhal." ? Antonio Mu oz Molina, El Pa s "This wonderful and wise book made me look at the artwork without intimidation or any confusion. It is a great pleasure to be guided by the experienced eye of Alejandro Vergara." ? Olga Tokarczuk, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Throughout history, human beings have excelled at creating art of the highest quality. Aristotle wrote that Homer ?surpassed all others? while Pliny the Elder referred to ?masterpieces that we never tire of admiring?. Vel zquez distinguished between portraits ?made with art? and those that were not. What did they all mean exactly? And what do we mean when we say that a work of art is good, of high quality? This book is an attempt to explain this central question, which remains surprisingly unexplored. Alejandro Vergara-Sharp argues that ?a deep knowledge of the history of art provides us with the tools to approach this issue objectively?. He then invites the reader to share with him a Socratic voyage of discovery, gradually unveiling arguments that can assist us in understanding this elusive and crucial concept. Alejandro Vergara-Sharp (b. 1960, Washington DC) is Senior Curator of Flemish and Northern European Paintings at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid.‎